One of my favorite scenes from Saving Private Ryan (which is my favorite movie) comes after they take out a machine gun nest on their way to Ramelle. After digging graves to bury the dead there, a surviving German is blindfolded and the soldiers prepare to execute him, nevermind the fact that he surrendered. When Pvt. Reiben threatens to leave after Capt. Miller sets the surrendered German free, Miller explains:

Sometimes I wonder if I’ve changed so much my wife is even gonna to recognize me whenever it is I get back to her — and how I’ll ever be able to tell her about days like today…You wanna leave? You wanna go off and fight the war? Alright. Alright, I won’t stop you. I’ll even put in the paperwork. I just know that every man I kill the farther away from home I feel.

This has been in my mind over the last week and a half ever since Memorial Day, and since today is the 64th anniversary of D-Day. As I fight for the right to life of every human being here at home, many of our service men and women are living in a situation where they not only run the risk of being killed, but also might have to be the ones doing the killing themselves. I can’t begin to imagine how that might affect a person mentally. While killing enemy combatants may be morally justified, taking the life of another human being is not a natural impulse.

A segment on Dateline NBC this Memorial Day titled Coming Home, explored the psychological effect that killing has on our soldiers in combat. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman explores this in his books On Killing and On Combat. And Army Officer Pete Kilner discusses it on his blog Thoughts of a Soldier-Ethicist. Many service people come home from combat with serious post traumatic stress disorder and it makes sense that a lot of that comes from the fact that so many of them have killed.

War educates the senses, calls into action the will, perfects the physical constitution, brings men into such swift and close collision in critical moments that man measures man. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

However you feel about the war, these men and women need our love and support. Personally I have used Adopt a Platoon three times to adopt soldiers overseas. I sent my last package to my third soldier in April (he’s a paratrooper in the 173rd Airborne Brigade serving in Afghanistan) and will likely be adopting another soldier in the near future. AAP was founded and operated by the mothers of men and women who are or have been serving overseas. They are very dedicated and offer a wide variety of ways to contribute, including specifically themed campaigns, though simple letters from home are always a favorite. There is also support for wounded soldiers. You can also send support through Catholics in the Military and so many others. For those who cannot spend a lot of time and money sending letters and packages overseas spiritual support is also greatly needed.

Previous posts:
Supporting Our Troops
Day of Days
Lance Cpl. Darin Thomas Settle